Magnetic board

ABSTRACT

A magnetic board for mounting paramagnetic adhering objects, such as letters, symbols, numbers and the like, the board having at least one permanent or ferromagnetic surface and assembled in hollow rectangular or square-shaped pieces made of plastic material into which plate-like or strip-like permanent or ferromagnetic material is mounted on either one or both sides of the board. The board may also include a plurality of longitudinal ruled lines on one or both sides.

mite Holtz States Patet 1 MAGNETIC BOARD [76] Inventor: Hermann Holtz,Seerobenstr. 7, 62

Wiesbaden, Germany Filed: Feb. 17, 1972 Appl. No.: 227,077

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 17, 1971 Germany G 71 43245.6

US. Cl. 335/285, 335/303 Int. Cl. H01! 7/20 Field of Search 335/285,295, 303,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1966 Baermann 335/285 X [451July 24, 1973 2,958,019 10/1960 Scholten et al 335/285 3,241,198 3/1966Baermann 335/303 X Primary Examiner-George Harris Attorney-Allison C.Collard [57] ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures l 1P W U P 6 l' a li uPAIENIE 24 I975 3, 7 5 14 SHE 10F 2 2 w w W M a 7 Fig.7 Fig.2

h m w U 5' L U H U EVMJ m a L n Fig.3

MAGNETIC BOARD The present invention relates to a permanent magnet orferromagnetic board on which magnetically adhering objects may beplaced;

More specifically, the present invention relates to a magnetic boardhaving adhering letters, numbers, symbols, and the like.

Permanent magnet or ferromagnetic boards are well known in the art.These generally consist of aboard, or strip-like permanent magnetmaterial, or a ferromagnetic material which is mounted onto a base plateor carrier. One of these conventional permanent or ferromagnetic boardsconsist essentially of a plurality of layers which are mounted onto eachother in a sandwichlike construction, whereby the top layer consists ofa permanent or ferromagnetic material. The permanent magnet may consistof a-suitable plastic resin, or rubber based material which may beconstructed in form of plates, and mounted on a base plate or carrier.The board may also be constructed in the form of a U- shaped permanentmagnet consisting of a rubber base or plastic resin material, wherebythe U,-shaped pieces are mounted onto a base plate in a tightarrangement with respect to each other. This board is also provided withruled lines which run longitudinally along the board. The letters,symbols, numbers and the like, may be placed between the ruled lines andstay on the board by magnetic adherence.

When ferromagnetic boards are made, usually thin ferromagnetic sheetmetal is mounted onto the base plate, for example, by bonding. Becauseof their construction, the conventional permanent or ferromagneticboards are very expensive to make. This is particularly true if boardsof different sizes have to be made which cannot be produced in series.The-present invention provides a board of the aforementioned type whichcan be made of any suitable size and manner and is thus inexpensive. Theinvention also provides boards of large sizes, or boards havingsubdivided faces which could be used, for example, as an indicatorboard. In the invention, a permanent or ferromagnetic board is providedfor mounting paramagnetic objects which have at least one face of apermanent magnetic or ferromagnetic material. The board consists of aplurality of hollow rectangular or square-shaped pieces made of plasticmaterial in modular fashion, onto which a plate-like, or strip-likepermanent or ferromagnetic material is mounted. The magnetic materialcan be mounted on one or both faces of the board.

The permanent or ferromagnetic board has advantages over theconventional boards since the carrier or base plate for the plate orstrip-like permanent or ferromagnetic material consists of hollowrectangular, or square plastic pieces which can be assembled into anysize by simply cutting them into the desired shape. Thus, the permanentor ferromagnetic material consisting of either plates or strips can beeasily mounted on one or both sides of the carrier or base plate. Inaccordance with the invention, the novel board is relatively light inweight, and very rigid, since it may be used to assemble the individualboard pieces.

Instead of bonding the permanent or ferromagnetic plates onto thecarrier or base plate, the upper and lower pieces may be provided with aflange or a groove at their outeredge onto which the permanent orferromagnetic material may be mounted. When the novel board is used asan indicator board, the individual pieces may be provided with one or aplurality of longitudinal ruled lines which subdivide the pieces intoseparate fields. After the individual pieces are assembled, a strip-likepermanent or ferromagnetic material may be mounted between theindividual ruled lines. Thus, a ruled indicator board is provided sothat letters, numbers, or other symbols can be placed onto the permanentmagnetic strips to indicate a desired text or picture. The ruled linesguarantee that an even border exists between the lines of letters,numbers, or other symbols. When strip-like permanent magnetic materialis used, the letters, numbers, or other symbols may be made of asuitable ferromagnetic material. In contrast, however, it is alsopossible that permanent magnetic letters, numbers, symbols or the like,can be mounted onto a strip-like ferromagnetic material between theruled lines, so that on one face of the board, the space between theindividual lines is different from the other side of the board. It isthus possible to have a variable choice in indicating the desiredobjects. For example, one would be able to have twice the number oflines on one face of the board than on the other.

7 The individual pieces can be connected to each other by any suitablemeans. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, grooves areprovided along the front edges of the individual pieces correspondinglyformed connecting pieces may be placed into these grooves to guaranteesuitable locking of the individual pieces with each other.

It is therefore an object according to the present invention to providea magnetic board constructed'of a permanent magnet or ferromagneticmaterial constructed of hollow rectangular or square-shaped pieces ofplastic material receiving strip-like magnetic material mounted on oneor both sides of the board.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide an'improved magnetic board for receiving paramagnetic objects for adheringtothe surface of the board.

It is still a further object according to the present invention toprovide a magnetic board which is simple in design, easy to manufactureand inexpensive in cost.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings which disclose the embodiments of theinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings aredesigned for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition ofthe limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similarelements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a rectangular piece formaking the base construction of a permanent or ferromagnetic board inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a partial section of the piece of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a board constructed of the individualpieces of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the embodiment of 'FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the enlarged cross section of the front part of theconnecting portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows the cross section of a connecting portion;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of theinventiveindicator board; and

FIG. 8 is a partial plan view of the indicator board according to FIG.7.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, the base construction of the permanent orferromagnetic board consists essentially of right angular, shaped hollowpieces 1, made of plastic material. The front edges are provided withlongitudinally extending grooves 2. Connecting pieces 3 are mounted inthe grooves, thus connecting and interlocking the individual pieces witheach other. The upper and lower pieces are provided with flanges 4 whichextend beyond the upper and lower edges and are provided with a groove.A permanent or ferromagnetic plate 6 is inserted into groove 5. Thefront face of the permanent or ferromagnetic plate forms the adheringface of the board. It is to be understood that the permanent orferromagnetic plate may be mounted onto the base plate consisting ofindividual pieces 1, for example, by bonding, or any other suitablemeans. In the same manner, the other side of the board may be providedwith a similar plate made of permanent or ferromagnetic material, andinserted in groove of extensions 4. The board may thus be used on bothsides. Different colors can be used for each side of the board, ifdesired.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged and detailed front face of a piece. A groove 2is provided in the front face having a zig-zag edge 7. As can be seenfrom FIG. 6, the outer face of connecting portion 3 is also providedwith a zigzag face 8. This connecting piece 3 is inserted into groove 2and is fixedly interlocked because of the engaging zig-zag faces. Acounterpiece 1 is mounted on the extending portion of connecting piece3, thus interlocking the individual parts. It is to be understood thatthe interlocking of the parts may be enhanced by additional bonding, orby bonding alone.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In thisembodiment, an indicator board is divided into lines. In thisembodiment, parallel ruled profiles or shoulder-like projections 9 areprovided on one or both sides of plastic piece 1, which also extendparallel with respect to the edges of the pieces. Thus, projections 9form segmented fields 10 after the individual board pieces 1 have beenassembled. Permanent or ferromagnetic strips 11 may be mounted on thesesegmented fields. The strips receive the magnetizable letters 12 ornumbers 13. The ruled projections 9 guarantee that the letters, numbers,and the like will be aligned in one even direction. For example, onlyone projection 9' may be provided on the obverse side of the board sothat the distance between the individual lines is wider. Indicatorboards of different sizes may be provided by varying the width of theindividual pieces 1. Furthermore, one or a plurality of smooth piecesmay be interconnected as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, between pieces 1 whichare provided with the ruled projections 9. In this way, the distancebetween the different lines may be chosen at random. Finally, it is tobe understood that individual pieces 1 may be made in any size, so thatboards of any given size can be made.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shownand described, it will be obvious that many changes and modificationsmay be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for mounting magnetically adhering objects and having atleast one flat exterior mounting surface, comprising:

a plurality of hollow modular rectangular pieces one of which has atleast one longitudinally projecting flange integrally formed on an edge;

magnetic strip means engaging said at least one flange and mounted onthe exterior of said modular rectangular piece for magneticallyattracting the ferromagnetic objects placed adjacent thereto; and

interlocking means positioned within said modular rectangular pieces soas to interconnect said modular rectangular pieces adjacent in aboard-like array.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said interlocking meanscomprises at least one interengaging tongue and groove.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means forsecuring said magnetic strip means to said modular rectangular pieces.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein said means for securingsaid magnetic strip means comprises an adhesive material.

5. An apparatus for mounting magnetically adhering objects and having atleast one flat exterior mounting surface, comprising:

a hollow modular rectangular piece having a plurality of parallelspaced-apart shoulder projections, the projections extendingperpendicular to the plane of display;

magnetic strip means disposed between the shoulder projections forattracting ferromagnetic objects placed adjacent thereto; and

means for fastening said magnetic material within said shoulderprojections.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said magnetic stripmeans are constructed of permanent magnetic material.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6, wherein the number of parallelspaced apart shoulder projections formed on one side of said modularrectangular piece differs from the number of parallel spaced apartshoulder projections formed on the opposite side of said modularrectangular piece.

1. An apparatus for mounting magnetically adhering objects and having at least one flat exterior mounting surface, comprising: a plurality of hollow modular rectangular pieces one of which has at least one longitudinally projecting flange integrally formed on an edge; magnetic strip means engaging said at least one flange and mounted on the exterior of said modular rectangular piece for magnetically attracting the ferromagnetic objects placed adjacent thereto; and interlocking means positioned within said modular rectangular pieces so as to interconnect said modular rectangular pieces adjacent in a board-like array.
 2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said interlocking means comprises at least one inter-engaging tongue and groove.
 3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means for securing said magnetic strip means to said modular rectangular pieces.
 4. The apParatus as recited in claim 3, wherein said means for securing said magnetic strip means comprises an adhesive material.
 5. An apparatus for mounting magnetically adhering objects and having at least one flat exterior mounting surface, comprising: a hollow modular rectangular piece having a plurality of parallel spaced-apart shoulder projections, the projections extending perpendicular to the plane of display; magnetic strip means disposed between the shoulder projections for attracting ferromagnetic objects placed adjacent thereto; and means for fastening said magnetic material within said shoulder projections.
 6. The apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said magnetic strip means are constructed of permanent magnetic material.
 7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6, wherein the number of parallel spaced apart shoulder projections formed on one side of said modular rectangular piece differs from the number of parallel spaced apart shoulder projections formed on the opposite side of said modular rectangular piece. 